Another fine mess...

I'm sure there's a myth or a fable or something where some starving unfortunate is taken to a table laden with food, only to have it snatched away just as he is reaching for it. We seem to have got into much the same situation with University places don't we? A generation of kids have been brought up to believe that if they carry on at school after 16, work hard and get good A-level results, they will be able, if they wish, to go to University. But what's happened? An awful lot of them have done just that only to find that the Universities are full and there are no places for them. How has this situation arisen? Is it the result of "dumbed-down" A-level papers resulting in a plethora of A and A* grades? Is it down to more students being encouraged to take
"soft" non-academic subjects to inflate a school's position in the league tables? Is it simply the result of insufficient forward planning? Whatever, those who find themselves out in the cold this autumn have every right to feel angry.